The Memory Library - Kate Storey - ★★★.½

AUTHOR: Kate Storey

GENRE: Contemporary Family Drama

PUBLICATION DATE: February 1, 2024

RATING: 3.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A feel-good contemporary novel about second chances, the power of friendship and the magic of books. Works pretty much as expected. No surprises herein. Unlikeable main character though, so be prepared with tons of patience to tolerate her.

Plot Preview:

Forty-two-year-old Ella has been in Australia for more than half of her life, having left Greenwich two decades ago after a major argument with her mother Sally, who now lives alone in Ella’s childhood home.

When Sally falls at home, Ella is forced to return to take care of her mother, not out of love but out of duty. However, once back home, she discovers something special that her mum has been working on all these years. But is one gesture enough to forgive the hurts of the past?

The story comes to us in the limited third person perspective of the key characters, mostly from the present timeline.

Bookish Yays:

💐 Sally – loving, sacrificing, friendly, forgiving. And on top of that, a bibliophile. Sally’s character saves the book from being a thundercloud, courtesy Ella.

💐 The secondary characters, who include a drag queen and a Black young man with a wild Afro and a wilder fashion sense. Ella’s husband Charlie has a limited role but still leaves a mark.

💐 Hadron Collider the cat: With such a name, you can expect Hadron to be amazing, and he is. He also dislikes Ella, which proves what an excellent judge of character he is.

💐 The eponymous memory library, which comes out of a beautiful sentiment, and the actual public library in the book, which shows why libraries are the best!

💐 The ode to books, with various books being not just mentioned but also discussed. Some parts reminded me of Sara Nisha Adams’ “The Reading List”, but the bookish points are much better handled here.

💐 The community spirit, amply depicted in the close bond and the mutual assistance across the characters. These offer plenty of old-world vibes.

💐 The parenting related topics, especially the different standards applied to mothers and fathers and the problem of watching aging parents going through a health issue alone. The mother-daughter relationship between Sally and Ella also is beautiful once fixed.

💐 Plenty of quotable quotes and thought-provoking lines.

Bookish Mixed Bags:

🌹 Several themes are explored well: friendship, acceptance, family, found family, social support. But one annoying theme was that of miscommunication – too frequent and overused.

🌹 The prologue set on Ella’s eighth birthday provides a beautiful introduction to the story, but also provides a spoiler to the cause of the rift.

🌹 The pacing is on the slower side, and the plot also gets a bit repetitive in between. But it somehow works for the story as the emotions come out well.

Bookish Nays:

🌵 Ella – When I tell you that Ella’s routine habit is to play the game of 'If I was [sic] queen of the world’, you will understand what a self-centred and judgmental woman she is. We all know at least one such person, the kind sees only trouble in their lives and considers everyone else trouble makers. As a major chunk of the story comes to us from her third person perspective, it takes every iota of patience to tolerate her behaviour. I don’t mind unlikeable characters in fiction as long as their arc is realistic. The problem is that Ella’s turnaround becomes unconvincing because she isn’t presented with any redeeming qualities before.

🌵 I didn’t get why Ella counted uppity Prudence time and again as Sally’s friend even when it was clear that there was no love lost between them. This inclusion felt very forced.

🌵 “I want a man who writes me love letters.” – Never a fan of such idealised and over-romanticised requirements of what counts as love, especially for a couple married more than a decade. Love is so much more than material gestures.

🌵 The sappy ending (prior to the epilogue) didn’t work for me. It felt too neat. I get that this is what most readers would want from this genre – a picture-perfect finale, but it doesn’t work for me. I prefer more realistic endings.

Basically, there was nothing much to hate in this novel (except perhaps for Ella, but she too, as expected, improves by the end.) But there was nothing that blew me away as well. Except for the inclusion of the drag queen character (which I loved!!), there was nothing out of the ordinary here. It’s a nice read, but not a memorable one.

Recommended to those looking for a story of second chances with family and the power of books. It ought to work well for book club discussions because of the characters, the bookish chats, and the themes.

My thanks to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Memory Library”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.